Fastener separating mechanism



1933' B. JORGENSEN FASTENER SEPARATING MECHANISM 0y W w Patented Oct. 24, 1933 PATENT OFFICE 1,931,611 1 FASTENER SEPARATING IMECHANISM Bernhardt Jorgensen, Beverly, Mass, assignor to United Shoe Machinery. Corporation, Paterson, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application April 29, 1930. Serial No. 448,386

11 Claims.

This invention relates to machines for inserting previously formed fastenings; The invention is herein illustrated as embodied in a machine designed especially to insert headed tacks of the kind used in the manufacture of boots and shoes.

Machines of this type usually comprise a mechanism for driving the tacks, a container or pot into which the tacks are thrown in bulk, a raceway which conducts the tacks from the pot to a point adjacent to the tack driving mechanism, and a separator operating intermittently to separate the endmost tack from the line of tacks in the raceway and to deliver the tack so separated. to the tack driving or inserting mechamsm.

" Tack separators heretofore used in machines of this kind have-usually consisted of a movable finger which is arranged to pass between the endmost tack in the raceway and the next succeedingtack, so that the tacks .behindthefinger or separator are heldin the raceway by the finger while the endmost tack is allowed to'passto a position to be driven. The'fingerthen releases the row of tacks so that the succeeding tack is positioned to bedriven, the separator then. acting, as before, to hold the next, and remaining tacks, in the raceway. 1 I

It is an object of the present invention topro'f vide a simple mechanism for separating the tacks in a raceway. The invention is illustrated herein as applied to the. well-known type of tacking machine known as the Boston Tacker, although it may be arranged to be used in other types of machines in which tacks or similar fastenings are fed to an inserting mechanism. v

In accordance with the above object, a feature of the invention consists of a tack separating member which is arranged to engage a portion of a tack and which is moved intermittently to 40 carry the tacks along the raceway. a distance equal to the dimension of the engaged portion of a tack in the direction of movement. Thus, with each intermittent movement, an individual tack is freed from the control of the separating member and is discharged from the raceway. Preferably, and as illustrated, the separating member is a rotary member or roll which engages the heads of the tacks and, in each intermittent move.- ment, turns or is rotated a circumferential distance equal to the diameter of the head of a tack. Stated broadly, the separator moves, each time, a distance equal to the dimension, in the direction of movement, of that portion of the tack that is engaged by theseparator. I

Another feature of the invention comprises a tack separating member which operates by frictional engagement with the tacks in the raceway, its operation depending upon the fact that the friction between the tacks and the separating member is greater than the friction between the tacks and the raceway. The separating member is herein illustrated as a roll made of resilient material such as soft rubber which presses against the heads of the tacks so that the heads are impressed into the periphery of the roll as each portion of the periphery, during the rotation of the roll, comes into contact with the tacks in the raceway.

In order to accommodate tacks of different sizes and still discharge individual tacks from the raceway with each feeding movement, a feature of the invention consists of adjustable means for controlling, the amount of movement given to the separating member. In the illustrated construction, the adjustable means controls the 15 amount of turning of the roll so that it will be rotated a predetermined amount during each cycle of the machine and thereby will discharge tacks of the size for which the machine is adjusted, individually into thepath of the tack 0 driving mechanism.

A further feature of the invention consists in a novel driving mechanism for driving the separator roll, this mechanism comprising a driving member fortheroll which is mounted coaxially 35 with the roll and which is oscillated through an adjustable predetermined angle, and connections between the driving member and the roll consisting, preferably, of a driving pawl. In order to prevent any backward movement of the separator 0 roll during the return movement of the driving 'member, a locking pawl is provided.

' Otherobjects and features of the invention will be'noted when. the following description is considered in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which i Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of the principal parts of the Boston tacking machne with the rotary tack separator'of the present invention embodied therein; I r r Fig. 2 is aside elevation of the right side of the machine, with .parts of the machine broken away to illustrate the operation of the tack separating'mechanism; and

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line III,--III 0 .of Fig. 2 and looking inthe direction of the arrows;

The machine partially shown in Fig. 1 is disclosed more. fully in U. S. Letters Patent No. 6.39 ran ed A t 1 up a pplication of Fred L. McKenzie. For a description of the general organization of the machine, reference should be made to that patent. It is now necessary to describe only briefly the mechanism of that machine in order to show the adaptation of the present invention thereto.

Thedriver 1O reciprocates through a vertical driver'passage or throat 12 to which the tacks are delivered, one at a time, by the separator, each tack, of course, being driven into the work through the tack nozzle 14 after it hasbeen delivered to the driver passage. A raceway 16 guides a line of tacks T from the tack shown) to the driver passage 12.

In the present tack separating mechanism, the

delivery of the tacks from the raceway to the driver passage is controlled by a rubber tack separating roll 18. It will be observed that after the tack 20 has been delivered to the driver passage 12, the succeeding tack 22 is retained as the endmost tack in the raceway by its contact with the rubber roll 18. After the tack 20 has been driven and the driver returned to the position shown in Fig. 2, it is necessary to feed the endmost tack 22 to the position previously occupied by the tack 20. This is accomplished by rotating the tack roll '18 in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 2, a circumferential distance equal to the diameter of the head of a tack, this rotation being just enough to free the endmost tack from its engagement'with the roll and permit it to pass down the remainder of the'raceway 16 and into the driverpassage 12. The turning of theroll is stopped as soon as this is accomplished and this leaves the succeeding tackin engagement with the roll (in the position of tack 22 in Fig. 2) for feeding during the next cycle of the machine.

In order that the tack may be fed properly by'the roll, the roll is. pressed against the head of the tack hard enough to embed the head of the tack slightly in the roll, so that the friction of the roll with respect to the tack is greater than the friction of the tack with respect to the raceway 16. Thus, the rubber roll 18, as it turns, grips the head of the tack suiliciently to move it along the raceway and out of contact with the 'roll itself.

The mounting of the roll 18 and the means for rotating it to separatethe tacks will now be described. A'pivot 24 is fixedlymounted in a plate 26 in which is formed oneside of the driver passage. Upon this pivot is mounted a rotatable member 28 to which is fixedly secured the tack separating roll 18; The member 28 is retained in positionlongitudinally on the pivot 24 by means of a washer 30 and a screw 32 tapped into the end of thepivot 24. Mounted to turn on the rotatable'member 28, and coaxial therewith, is a driving member 34 which is held in position also by the washer 30, and by an enlarged fl'ange36 on the member 28. The driving member 34 carries a pivotally mounted pawl 38 which engages the flange 36 of the member 28, the engagement being maintained by means of a tension spring 40, one end of which is connected to' a pin 42 extending from the pawl, and the other end of which is connected to a pin 44 which extends from the driving member 34. While neither the flange 36 of the rotatable member, nor the 'pawl 38 is provided with teeth, the action between the two is a clutching action which is equivalent to that of a pawl and ratchet, and therefore, for convenience, thepart 38 has beeri'termed a pawl. It will be seen that, upon oscillation of the driving member 34 in a'clockwi'se direction (Fig. 2),

pot (not a turning movement is given to the tack separator roll 18 by the action of the pawl 38. In order to prevent any backward movement of the rotatable member 28 and of the roll 18 secured thereto, when the driving member 34 is oscillated in the reverse direction, another similar pawl is provided. This pawl is illustrated at 46 (see Fig. 2), and is mounted on a fixed pivot 49. It is maintained in engagement with the flange 36 of the rotatable member 28 by means of a tension spring 48 and thus prevents any counterclockwise movementof the member 28 and the separating roll 18.

The driving member 34 is oscillated by a connecting rod 50,. having ball-and-socket connections 52 and 54 at its ends, the connection 52 being with the driving member 34, and the constud 56 is mounted in a slot 58 on an oscillating lever 60. The position of the stud 56 in the slot 58 may be conveniently adjusted and locked in position by the nut 62, thereby giving to the driving member 34 a predetermined movement-of oscillation. The lever 60 is mounted upon a vertical shaft 64 upon the upper end of which is mounted a slotted lever 66, in which a sliding block 68 operates. The block 68 is secured in a cam lever 70 by means of a stud 72 and nut 74. The cam lever'lO is oscillated by a cam' roll 76 which travels in a cam track 78 of'the cam 80, which cam is mounted on the main shaft of the tacking machine. The mechanism for oscillating the shaft 64 by means of the train of mechanism from the cam 80 is the same as that ordinarily used in the "tacking machine ofthe patent referred to above.

Having described the-invention what is claimed as new and desired to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is: I v

1. A tack separating mechanism comprising a raceway composed of parallel bars between which the'shanks of tacks are positioned and upon which the heads of tacksare supported, and a power driven radially resilient roll, said roll being constructed and arranged to'engage', and feed tacks along the raceway by friction, the friction between the tacks and the roll being greater than the friction between the tacks and the'raceway, a j V 2. A tack separating'mechanism comprising a raceway composed of parallel bars between which the shanks of tacks are positioned and upon which the heads of tacks are supported, a rotatable rubber roll with which the heads of the tacks come into frictional contact and by which contact they are fed when the roll is ro' tated, the friction of said contact being greater than the friction between the tacks and the raceway and power driving meansfor'rotating the roll.

3. A tack separating mechanism comprising a raceway for tacks, a tack separator constructed and arranged to engage tacks'in the raceway, and means for moving the separator intermittently adistance equal to the'dimension, in the direction of movement, of thatportion of a tack that is engaged by the separator.

4. A tack separating mechanism'comprising a raceway for tacks, a tack separator constructed and arranged frictionally-to engage portions of tacks in the raceway, and means for operating the separator to feed the tacks intermittently along the raceway a-distanceequal to a' dimennection 54 being with an adjustable stud 56. The

fee

sion of the engaged portion of a tack and 'discombination, a raceway for tacks, means constructed and arranged to engage and feed tacks along the raceway by friction, and means to vary the amount of feeding movement so that each feeding movement causes the discharge of an individual tack from the raceway.

6. A tack separating mechanism comprising a raceway for tacks, a roll constructed and arranged to engage the heads of tacks in the raceway, and means for turning the roll intermittently a circumferential distance equal'to the diameter of the head of a tack to feed tacks so engaged along the raceway and to discharge them individually therefrom.

7. A tack separating mechanism comprising a raceway for tacks, a roll having a yielding periphery constructed and arranged to engage and feed tacks in the raceway, and means for turning the roll intermittently through a limited predetermined angle to feed tacks along the raceway and to discharge a single tack from the raceway for each predetermined turning movement.

8. A tack separating mechanism comprising a raceway for tacks, a roll suitably positioned relatively to the raceway, said roll having 'a soft rubber periphery into which the heads of tacks in the raceway may be impressed, and means for turning the roll to discharge individually from the raceway the tacks impressed in the rubber periphery of the roll;

9. A tack separating mechanism comprising a raceway for tacks, a roll suitably positioned relatively to the raceway, said roll having a soft rubber periphery into which the heads of tacks in the raceway may be impressed, means to turn the roll intermittently to feed the impressed tacks along the raceway and to discharge them therefrom, and means to vary the amount of the intermittent feeding movement so that a single tack will be discharged from the raceway for each such movement.

10. A rotary tack separating mechanism comprising a pivot, a rotatable member mounted on the pivot and having a peripheral frictional tack engaging surface, a driving member, connections between the driving member .and the rotatable member to turn the latter an amount equal to a dimension of the tack, and means foroperating the driving member.

11. A rotary tack separating mechanism comprising a raceway along which tacks can move by gravity, a pivot, a rotatable member mounted on the-pivot, a peripheral frictional tack engaging surface on said memberffor controlling the movement of tacks along the raceway, a driving member co-axial with the rotatable member, a driving .pawl pivotally mounted on the driving member and engaging the rotatable member to drive the latter inia forward direction, a retaining pawl to prevent backward movement of the rotatable member, means for oscillating the driving member, and means for exactly adjusting the amount of said oscillation so that individual tacks will be fed and discharged from the raceway.

BERNHARDT JORGENSEN. 

